Finding Art Market Stars – artmarketblog.com

You may have heard something about my search for an artist that has the potential for stardom in the cut-throat world art market but needs some guidance and assistance in making use of that potential to further their career. This search has taken the form of a competition which I named the Next Star Artist competition because, well, I am trying to find the Next Star Artist. I knew that the competition would be controversial and I knew that there would be plenty of people who opposed the commercial nature of the competition but, at the end of the day, the primary purpose of the competition is to help an artist to achieve their goals. Whether or not you agree with the commercialisation of fine art, the fact remains that an artist is just as entitled to aim for commercial success and seek financial reward for their work as anyone else. As with any market that involves the exchange of goods for money there are unfortunately people within the art market who fail to give artist’s the respect, recognition that they deserve and it is these people who tarnish people’s perception of the art market.

I came across an article today on the website of the UK Times Newspaper by David Lee who is the editor of The Jackdaw, a newsletter for visual artists. This article, titled “Charles Saatchi and the fine art of making money“, basically criticises Charles Saatchi for his profit motivated art dealings but in doing so Lee has also expressed highly negative views of some of the artist’s that Saatchi has chosen to invest in which could potentially do more damage to the artists careers than what Lee is accusing Saatchi of doing. Just because Saatchi profits from his art dealings doesn’t necessarily mean that the artists he promotes deserve to have their reputations tarnished.

Now that I have got that off my chest, back to the Next Star Artist competition which is starting to get extremely exciting. Ten finalists have been chosen and are being judged as we speak by a panel of experts from all areas of the art world who will decide which of the ten finalists has the greatest potential for stardom. The winner of the Next Star Artist competition will be announced on the 27th of June.

Please feel free to leave a comment for the judges saying who you think should be the winner and why.

**Nicholas Forrest is an art market analyst, art critic and journalist based in Sydney, Australia. He is the founder of http://www.artmarketblog.com, writes the art column for the magazine Antiques and Collectibles for Pleasure and Profit and contributes to many other publications.

What really makes an art star? Interesting question, but I think its fluke really…It seems like its about the right art world celebrity (dealers, curators etc) stumbling on your work and deciding (objectively) that it has potential or worth.. (just look at Basquait)

Hence, I would love for someone to create a “reality tv test” of taking a $50000 abstract work from a prestigious gallery, remove the fancy frame and hang it for $100 in a little cafe… I bet it wouldn’t necessarily sell! I think its all about positioning….

I further wage that you could do the reverse and take a unknown $100 abstract work, place a fancy frame around it and hang it in a famous NY gallery and a rich celebrity would probably drop $50K for it based solely on where it is hanging!